News: Gurugram: NBCC Green View society unsafe, DC asks residents to vacate by March 1-17-02-2022
District deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav on Wednesday directed the residents of NBCC Green View in Sector 37 D, which was deemed unsafe last year after a structural audit by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, to vacate the condominium by March 1 citing that the residential complex is no longer safe to live in. He also directed the developer of NBCC to provide alternative accommodation to the residents till they carry out the repairs and bear the cost of transportation, shifting and rentals.
Yadav said he has directed NBCC --National Building Construction Corporation, a Government of India enterprise — to refund the money to all the homebuyers, who not wish to live in the society, with interest, so that they can buy new properties. The NBCC offered to provide apartments in other projects and agreed to pay rent till the society is made ready to move in again, said officials.
“I held a joint meeting with the developer and residents on Wednesday, which lasted about four hours. According to the reports of district town planner and other experts, the building is not safe for residents. Hence, they have been directed to evacuate by March 1,” said Yadav adding that currently, 140 families live in the residential complex--100 families in flats allotted to the economically weaker sections and 40 families in the other apartments.
Yadav said those who wish to take an apartment on rent will be provided with the transportation costs and the rental till the NBCC Green view society is repaired and made ready for residents to shift back to their apartments.
NBCC officials present in the meeting also gave the option to shift the aggrieved families to an alternative residential facility. “The NBCC will bear the shifting cost. In case, the families do not wish to stay in the alternative accommodation suggested by NBCC, they can rent a flat, which has to be of the same size as the one they are living in right now. The rent will be borne by the NBCC,” said one of the officials .
Yadav said in the case of residents who want a refund, the district administration will order the NBCC to refund the homebuyers according to the prevailing market rates along with interest (calculated from the time the flats were purchased) within a month.
The deputy commissioner explained to the residents that the ownership of their flats would remain with them and that no demolition work would be carried out without giving them proper compensation.
He further said that a decision regarding refund would be taken after the report of the second expert committee is filed. “If the residents are not willing to put up in the society and want a refund even after the report states that the building is safe to live in after the necessary repairs, they will be issued a refund for their properties,” said Yadav.
He added if the NBCC, after repairing the building, gives the safety certificate to the residents, and they want to live there, they can stay in that society but present circumstances require them to vacate from the building. “If something untoward happens later, none of us will be able to forgive ourselves... the safety of the lives and property of the residents is the topmost priority of the government and the administration,” said Yadav.
The deputy commissioner said it has come to the fore that the fault lies with NBCC and the contractor. He said the report given by IIT Delhi regarding the structure of the building would be shared with the residents.
The second expert committee, comprising four members from Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) and IIT Roorkee, will also talk to the residents and explain all the aspects while conducting the safety audit of the building, said officials.
Chairman and managing director of NBCC P K Gupta said the corporation will take full responsibility as the flats have been constructed by them.
The NBCC Green View housing complex was completed in May 2017 and cracks in the building started appearing from the very next year. On Tuesday, R Mohanty, president of NBCC Green View Apartment Owners Association, said they have been raising issues with the condominium’s structural safety for the last four years but to no avail. “Only after we raised the matter with the urban housing ministry, a structural audit was conducted last year.”
“It is shocking to see how a society with 700-800 flats could deteriorate in four to five years.Initially, even we could not understand why the cracks were surfacing. We then engaged experts from IIT Delhi to conduct the structural audit, which was done under my supervision,” said Gupta.
“The team which conducted the study recommended carrying out a series of tests, during which it was found that high chloride levels in water was leading to corrosion. After the inspection, we wanted to get the repairs done but all works were on hold due to the second wave of Covid-19,” added Gupta.
The NBCC officials said when they started the repair works after the second wave, they realised there was much more work than what they had anticipated. “Soon after, monsoon arrived and there was waterlogging in the area,” said Gupta.
Yadav said that the team from IIT Delhi gave its report stating that the society’s building is unsafe and asked the developer to get the residents to vacate the premises in two months. The developer issued the evacuation notice to homebuyers in November last year.
“The NBCC could not decide whether the building should be repaired or dismantled. Hence, an expert committee consisting four members from CPRI and IIT Roorkee was formed. On Gupta’s recommendation, many tests have been done again in the society, the report of which is yet to come,” said Yadav.
Randhir Singh, general secretary of NBCC Green View Apartment Owners Association, said they do not want to take repaired apartments and will opt for new properties with the refund that they will get from the developer. “Right now, we will move to a rented accommodation as we have no other option. We will buy new apartments with the money we get from the developer,” he said.
R S Bhath, district town planner, enforcement, said this is for the first that such a decision has been taken and directions have been issued to the developer to either buy the apartments of the aggrieved owners or get them repaired. “This order has created history. Now, developers will ensure they do not compromise on the quality of material used for construction and not only use the best material but also take up maintenance works regularly,” he said.
